From The Nation: Murtha: No Surge For BushIn the first really bold move of the new Congress, Jack Murtha told Arianna Huffington in an interview published today that he plans to block Bush's plan to escalate the war in Iraq by refusing to fund a so-called "surge" of additional troops.
From Arianna's interview:
When we asked about the likelihood of the president sending additional troops to Iraq, Murtha was adamant. "The only way you can have a troop surge," he told us, "is to extend the tours of people whose tours have already been extended, or to send back people who have just gotten back home." He explained at length how our military forces are already stretched to the breaking point, with our strategic reserve so depleted we are unprepared to face any additional threats to the country. So does that mean there will be no surge? Murtha offered us a "with Bush anything is possible" look, then said: "Money is the only way we can stop it for sure."He says he wants to "fence the funding," denying the president the resources to escalate the war, instead using the money to take care of the soldiers as we bring them home from Iraq "as soon as we can."
As chairman of the powerful Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Murtha has power over the war purse. He's right: the only way to prevent a surge is to refuse to fund it. And the only surefire way to end the war starts with blocking the $100 billion supplemental bill President Bush plans to hand the Congress soon. Many Democrats have been reluctant to pursue such an approach. Maybe Murtha's latest statement--like his dramatic call for redeployment in November 2005--will wake up his party.
KB,
ReplyDeleteThe last time that funding was refused to troops in the field was during LBJ's presidency. It resulted in landslide Replublican victories across the country. Our country recognizes, that whether the war is right or wrong, it is always wrong not to support our heroes who are out in the field. By all means, let the those in congress follow this strategy.
No one wants war, and we all want our boys home, but let's bring them home with the honor that they have earned. Bringing the troops home before they have completed their mission would be an egregious error.
The democrats have continued to put politcal gains in front of the welfare and safety of our nation, and our troops. They have undermined the war, and handcuffed the military from doing their job. These double-speak harbingers of doom have sent the message to our boys and girls that they have, in some way, failed: all for the sake of picking up votes. It disgusts me.
Hopefully, following strategies like this, they will expose themselves for the traitors and cowards that they are. And America will once again support those who afford me the luxeries that allow me to write on blogs like this.
God Bless
Doug
Thanks for the feedback Doug.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in knowing what "their mission" is and how we will know that they have completed it.
Bringing them home now would dishonor no soldier but possibly might dishonor a politician or two.
KB, this is a good post. I'm with you...our soldiers have not failed at all. Our politicians have and it's sad for me to say that. I've had 7 people I know and love over there. They all come back saying that it was good to be over there; there was indeed a mission; and that it's over and time to come home. They've been there..I haven't. I'm with them 100%
ReplyDeleteKB,
ReplyDeleteBringing them home, without establishing a stable, self-supporting government would be a terrible mistake. Whether we agree or disagree on the fact that we are there is arbitrary. For whatever the reason, there is a problem in Iraq, and the people we elect shouldn't be sitting with poubting lips and pointing fingers saying 'see I told you it was wrong!'. Pulling funding and or troops at this point puts those who are there in far worse danger. My view is to put more funding and troops to further insure the safety of those who are stationed there. All the while, we should formulate and announce a plan that establishes the criteria for our exit. Not a time table, but a requirements matrix. We owe this to our troops as well as the Iraqi's who have supported us these past few years.
Make no mistake, we are not hated by the Iraqis. We are, in fact, lauded and embraced by most of them. According to my friends over there, the Iraqis are pretty great to them.
Ultimately, bringing them home is the goal though, just not at the whims and folleys of those in Washington.
Like Karen, I have a large group of friends who have completed their tours in Iraq. All but one think that we need more troops over there, and that to pull out now would bring dishonor to their service. The debates in Washington infuriate most of them because the forces are unified over there, while those in power over here are divided. While I can see no dishonor in serving our country, I see what they mean.
Without question our soldiers haven't failed. If anything, we Americans, with our fickle attitudes, and politicians in Washington who see more need for votes and spin than securing our forces safety are the ones who have failed.
God Bless
Doug
Thanks again Doug. I think that you and I will simply have to disagree on this one. Maybe my experiences serving in the Army during the Vietnam War have tainted my perspectives on this war in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteIf the mission is to establish "a stable, self-supporting government" then we have ceded the fate of our soldiers to the Iraqi government. I submit that there has been plenty of time to train an Iraqi military and establish a government if the passion and desire is there among Iraqi's to do it.
I have difficulty seeing a free Iraq because the foundations of democracy are freedom of religion and freedom of speech ... freedoms that I don't see embraced by the new Iraq ... but maybe I am wrong.
I know I’m late in this one but we went in without a plan and that has been a huge problem. We have several choices right now one being keep our troops in and pray that they aren’t picked off one by one. Hmm that ain’t working! At what point does this country see that they need to stop wandering around looking for a camera to put their faces in front of when a bombing happens and take some control. I have yet to see, it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening, a story like “ The people clean up the streets and rebuild” Our government is in a huge mess thanks to all sides. Bush put us in deeper and it will take a lot to dig us out no matter who get elected. We need a plan to pull out, and we need to pull out.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how we are going to pay for the war. I wrote something two years ago on this problem.
ReplyDeleteKB,
ReplyDeleteMaybe so: we surely don't see eye to eye on this, but I must tell you that I am surprized by the fact that an ex-vet would take this sort of stance.
As someone who lost two uncles in Vietnam, and had 3 others serve during the war (I had relatives in all branches), and had quite a few cousins serve post-vietnam, I too am painfully aware of the 'costs' on families of fighting a politcal war.
My uncle Doug (whom I was named after), died early on and the others towards the end. They were great men, as was everyone else who followed their orders and marched through southern Asia.
The soldiers did their job, and won every battle. The politicians betrayed our troops by limiting their funding, limiting their scope of engagement and portraying the war as a 'lost cause'. To this day, I a wary and sickened by what happened to them. Does this sound familiar? It should.
To pull our troops out and/or remove their funding would be to put those left behind in harms way. Are you willing to do that? Because I am not.
I have difficulty seeing a free Iraq because the foundations of democracy are freedom of religion and freedom of speech ... freedoms that I don't see embraced by the new Iraq ... but maybe I am wrong.
You are unfortunately very right here. Without these basic liberties, a government is destined to fail. I was in Israel through much of the beginning of the war and there is two big things that I have learned: The press has a distinctly anti-American stance when it comes to world events and Sadam was truly a malevolent dictator.
Still I must ask you, is Iraq free-er then when it was Under Sadam. Without question it is. Unfortunately it has been on the financial backs of America to bear this burden too.
Milly, I must disagree with you here too. We had a plan entering Iraq: remove Sadam. Okay! The problem was that we believed that with him removed that the liberty of freeing the oppressed would roll into a pro-American, happy government. What we didn't consider was that Sadam wasn't just oppressing a segment of his people, he was suppressing a civil war.
Here is the pickle to me:
1) If we pull out partially or gradually, we put the remaining troops in great jeapardy. Making them easier targets.
2) If we remove funding, we risk the military being unable to properly fund the needed protection for those in harm's way. Again we have comprimised the safety of our troops.
3) If we rapidly pull out, we will create a void that probably will further destabilize the middle-east. Iraq would enter an all-out civil war. This will open a floodgate, which will include the mass-killings of hundreds and thousands of Iraqis, as a miltary-ready Iran invades without Iraq being able to resist.
With these three options, I only see that the results are worse than the current state of things.
So, if we must have troops over there, fund them, support them, give them winnable objectives, and most of all, keep them safe. I don't care about the politics and were we right to invade or not. I care about our men and women who, through no fault of their own, have been placed in an impossible position.
God Bless
Doug
Hi Again Doug,
ReplyDeleteThe picture you paint is a bleak one where the administration and the military are incompetent to the point of not being able to withdraw without risking many many lives. I simply don't believe that our military leaders are that incompetent.
From a kingdom perspective Christians are not freer in Iraq since the war and I do not believe that the cause of Christ will advance under the new Iraq if the war is won in the future. So I wonder why do we need to continue to put our soldiers in harms way for an outcome where the gospel will be hindered rather than advanced - not that this is something that the administration is concerned with.
Bottom line for me is that waging war without a plan for rebuilding was foolish. Staying the course has been foolish. We need to exercise wisdom and stop the foolishness of an ill-conceived political war.
You know, I just feel so duped these days when I think about that "compassionate conservative" that I voted for in 2000. His policies in Iraq have dismantled the Republican Party and he continues to go on like nothing has happened ... he seems to be in major denial.
Sorry if I went off into rant-ville.
Blessings, Bob
One last question Doug ...
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that, when so many ground troops are needed, we are not having serious dicussions about a national draft?
... I believe that Americans simply will not tolerate it and no one in the administration has the olitical courage to bring it up.
The way we are waging the war is not honorable. It is so sad what is happening to our military. Because of the War Act countless enlisted men are being extended beyond their commitment and some not being allowed to retire. NPR just did an expose' on the way enlisted men are being treated at Fort Carson ... it is just so sad hat is happening to our soldiers for the sake of Iraqi's who seem unwilling to step up to the plate in a major way.
Just checkout how we cut these guys loose and abuse our soldiers.
Broken link ... try this:
ReplyDeleteWe Cut Our Guys Loose"
KB,
ReplyDeleteGood question, but wouldn't you say that Vietnam tainted the draft?
Yep, the reprecussions of a war fought 40 years ago still affects policy today.
A national draft has been tossed around and quickly quieted.
So do you support a draft?
To the utter shock of my parents, I tried volunteering for the first Persian Gulf Conflict, but was denied.
One more thing NPR is hardly a reference of all things non-partisan.
Sorry to cause a stir.
God Bless
Doug
Did you read the NPR article Doug? I have first hand info on Ft Carson as well as the CBS and NPR stories. Does it surprise you that our soldiers are being mistreated? Soldiers being sent to war with prescription antidepressants. Doesn't surprise me because of my experiences in the Army. It is sad what is happening to many of our soldiers doing 3-4 tours in combat zones - it is not what Army and Guard soldiers enlisted to do. So sad that our leaders do not seem to care ... at least in Vietnam we had the troops (ala the draft) to fight the war without 3-4 tours in combat.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Bob
KB,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that this was your experience. I will tell you that my family had the mix. Some were treated well while other... well not so good. It seems that Air Force was the best for treatment.
I read your article and was saddened to hear this. In saying this, I still continue to question the credibility of NPR. The numbers sited by you and I assume by NPR aren't that significantly greater than police, fire departments, and EMT's here in the U.S. Did NPR mention that? Probably not.
Did NPR mention that many of the men doing 3 and 4 tours volunteer for that? It is indeed sad that we have spread our forces so thin, and the draft needs to be looked at more seriously.
Did NPR mention that our military loses 20 or so troops a month in training excercises? But when this war is over, trust me, they will if it furthers their liberal agenda.
Did you know that NPR has on numerous ocasions refused to publish specific articles that showed Iraqis support for Americans; shown how our troops have sacrificed their own time to help locals. And shown many selfish acts of wonton cruelty by the enemies in Iraq? Do you think there could be an agenda here?
These are the same folks who refuse to mention that Israel, unlike their Arab counterparts, send paramedics into the war-zones of Lebanon to help ANY wounded. A courtesy that has not gone unpunished by Arab snipers.
Also in all of these acts of cruelty aledgedly exercised on our troops. Did NPR bother to compare with with other military's?
You know: the ones who march children in lines in front of their tanks for a human-mine-sweep?
Did NPR mention that in Japan, pilots were given the choice of performing Kamakaze missions or being shot in the head? Or that Stalin taught his troops to shoot defectors in the back.
Did they mention that Chinese troops on the southern border (shared with India), must share oxygen masks, because there aren't enough, and they are so far up in the mountains that they are required? That's a real moral-builder isn't it?
Not that these action justify ours, I am just trying to put things in perspective.
Among the many things that separate our military from the rest of the world's is that we bring people to justice for acts unfitting of military service. No not all can be adressed, but far more are addressed than any other nation.
God Bless
Doug
Hi Doug,
ReplyDeleteWow ... you have a lot of experience with NPR. Guess my experience with my son in the military has left me a bit jaded. Without getting into all that I want to say that I respect your perspective on the war and have appreciated our dialog around it. Iraq is very complex with no simple/easy solutions. I am glad that we share a common concern for the troops and are both praying for their success and safety.
Many blessings, KB
KB,
ReplyDeleteYeah, NPR is one of my big pet-peaves. I think it is because it is supposed to be 'public' radio. To me this implies impartialilty and nothing could be further from the truth. Instead it is a bandstand for wacky liberal agendas. I won't lie, I still listen to it quite a bit, but I cringe at many of the opinions expressed as 'news' on the show.
You're a good man to put up with my meanderings. I ramble too much. Please know that my family's prayers are going up for your sons safety. And I pray that his experience is a lot better than you are expecting.
God Bless
Doug